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Plan for Black History Museum Advances

House Panel to Consider Capitol Project

By Monte Reel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 10, 2003; Page GZ06
Copyright © 2003 The Washington Post Company All Rights Reserved
Reprinted by Permission

A plan to create a new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington will be considered by Congress this week. Sponsors hope to endorse the idea before leaving for recess next month.

The House Administration Committee was scheduled to hold a hearing yesterday on a bipartisan bill designed to establish the proposed museum formally within the Smithsonian Institution, officially sanctioning a project that has been a longtime dream of backers. The Senate unanimously passed an identical bill last month. If the House affirms the bill, it would move to President Bush for final approval.

Rep. John Lewis

"The idea is to move it forward before the August recess," said Candace Tolliver, a spokeswoman for Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who along with Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) is guiding the museum project through Congress. "We anticipate it will move quickly."

The museum's exploratory committee, chaired by Alexandria businessman Robert L. Wright, recently disbanded after helping to draft the congressional proposal and holding several public meetings. The committee identified its preferred site for the museum -- the plot near the Capitol Reflecting Pool and bounded by Constitution and Pennsylvania avenues and First and Third streets NW -- and suggested a federal allocation of $15 million for next fiscal year to establish educational, grant and scholarship programs...

The bill would require the regents to designate a site officially within 18 months of enactment. In addition to the site recommended by the commission near the Capitol, the bill mentions three other possible locations -- the existing Arts and Industries Building of the Smithsonian; the area bounded by Constitution Avenue, Madison Drive and 14th and 15th streets NW; and an area at the southwestern foot of the 14th Street bridge.

Each of the alternative sites met opposition during the committee's public hearings. Renovating existing buildings could prove too expensive, the panel suggested, and other sites were criticized for being too far from the Smithsonian's other museums.

The preferred site, however, has also attracted critics and will continue to meet opposition. Judy Scott Feldman, chair of the National Coalition to Save Our Mall, said her group planned to testify at this week's hearing against the site. The coalition, which was a fierce opponent of the World War II Memorial and often leads opposition against Mall building projects, supports construction of the museum at a site near the Mall but not on it.

Feldman said other sites, including one at 10th Street SW near L'Enfant Plaza, would be better suited for a new building. She said building a new museum so close to the Capitol would impede vistas and could create security problems...

A 2001 joint statement by the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Memorial Commission suggested that no more museums or monuments be added to the Mall.

However, the site selected near the Capitol, because it is under the Architect of the Capitol's jurisdiction, is outside the purview of those groups.

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